


Interpersonal Communication

by artist_artists



Category: Glee
Genre: Bad Boy Blaine, M/M, Nerd Kurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-01
Updated: 2014-06-01
Packaged: 2018-02-03 02:03:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1727090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artist_artists/pseuds/artist_artists
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Until Kurt met Blaine, his main goal was just to get out of high school unscathed. Nerd!Kurt/Bad Boy!Blaine AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Interpersonal Communication

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Januarium for the read-through and title help!

Kurt Hummel doesn’t meet Blaine Anderson until they get paired up together for a project in their Interpersonal Communication class. 

It’s not that Kurt doesn’t know who Blaine is. Though Blaine had transferred to McKinley a few months back, he’d already made quite a name for himself amongst the student body after being suspended three times for fighting. Rumor has it this is Blaine’s third high school, and he’s only a sophomore. Kurt isn’t scared of him, exactly - Blaine only seems to take on the guys Kurt thinks deserve to have a bit of sense knocked into them, guys who spent a few years making very sure that Kurt knew his place in this school was the dumpster. It doesn’t mean Kurt wants to work with the kid on a school project, though. Blaine clearly has a temper he can’t control, and he always sneaks off during lunch and shows up to the Interpersonal Comm classroom reeking of cigarette smoke. Blaine spends most of his time alone, which is also worrying. After months of being in the school, he still hasn’t made any friends. It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of his personality.

Then again, Kurt has been at this school for almost three years without making any friends, so it’s hard to judge.

Once Mr. Williams finishes reading the list of paired students and tells them to spend the last few minutes of the period brainstorming ideas with each other, the classroom comes alive, desks and chairs squeaking as they’re turned or pushed together. Before Kurt can steel himself to turn around and face his new partner, he sees someone drop into the seat next to him out of the corner of his eyes. Kurt can tell immediately by the dark hair and jacket that it’s Blaine, so he takes a deep breath, tries to make his face as impassive as possible, and turns to face his partner.

“I _hate_ group projects,” is the first thing Blaine says, and it’s hard for Kurt to bite back a snarky reply. He does, though, because he’s learned his lesson many times. There’s no point in making enemies at this school. His main goal is to get out of this hellhole in one piece.

“I can do it myself,” Kurt offers. “You don’t have to worry about it.” It’s what most people expect when they get paired up with the kid with highest GPA in the school, and it’s a lot easier than dealing with the lacking brainpower and work ethic of most of the McKinley student body. Kurt’s not interested in trusting any of these people with his precious grades. Those grades are what’s going to get him out of here after senior year. Most people are more than happy to turn the bulk of the work over to Kurt, and Kurt’s happy to be on their good side. People remember that sort of thing the next time they’re looking for a loser to toss a slushie at. 

Blaine, however, narrows his eyes. “What, you think I can’t handle doing my part? Come on, this class is a joke, I could do this project in my sleep.”

He’s right - the class _is_ a joke, and Kurt’s only here because all of the available AP courses were already on his schedule and he didn’t want to have a study hall, but Kurt’s still taken aback by Blaine’s protest. 

“Most people would rather I did it, is all,” Kurt says, trying to smooth over any hurt feelings. Offending violent people is not something high on Kurt’s to-do list. 

“Shocking,” Blaine deadpans. “Well, you lucked out this time, Kurt, because I don’t trust other people with my work.”

“Neither do I.” Kurt admits, adjusting his glasses. He’s trying not to frown, because he fails to see how this makes him lucky at all. 

Blaine’s quiet for a moment as he skims the list of project ideas Mr. Williams handed out. “I think we should do the one on communication in romantic relationships,” he suggests, turning his gaze back to Kurt. “Can you imagine how uncomfortable people would be watching two gay guys do a presentation on that?”

The bell rings then, saving Kurt from trying to hide his shock at Blaine’s admission or attempting to explain all the reasons why flaunting it for a presentation would be a very, _very_ bad idea. “So, um, when do you want to meet up and get started?”

“After school in the library today?” Blaine suggests. 

“I can’t until 3, I have a history club meeting.”

Blaine grins. “Works for me, I’m in detention ‘til then anyway.”

“Great,” Kurt says, unwillingly left a bit breathless by how beautiful Blaine’s smile is. “I’ll see you then.”

-

The meeting in the library goes much better than Kurt anticipated. Blaine has a lot of ideas about the project, which is new for Kurt, who’s used to dealing with all of this stuff on his own. Blaine’s a little pushier than Kurt would prefer, though, and only backs down from the romantic relationships idea when Kurt snaps at him.

“I’ve spent two years trying to get this target off of my back, and I am not putting it back there just because you delight in making people uncomfortable!”

The librarian shushes him and he mumbles an apology. Blaine’s look is hard to read, and the silence seems to stretch on forever as Kurt hopes he won’t have to persuade him any further. Dave Karofsky is in this class, and Kurt can’t antagonize him further. It’s one thing that people know Kurt’s gay, but him talking about it in class is just asking for trouble. 

“Okay,” Blaine says after a minute. “We’ll do something else. Did anything else on the list look interesting to you?”

Kurt’s so relieved he almost laughs. “Nothing in this class is interesting to me, honestly.”

Blaine grins. “Yeah, me neither. I think most people just take it for the easy A.”

“It was the only thing besides a study hall I could take 6th period.”

“Same. I was sort of just shoved into whatever classes had space when I transferred.”

The reminder that Blaine’s behavior has gotten him kicked out of multiple schools puts a damper on Kurt’s burgeoning good mood, and he quickly returns to the task at hand, glancing down at his list of projects. 

Blaine changes the subject himself. “How about body language?” he suggests. “That unit wasn’t so bad.”

They settle on body language as their topic and spend about half an hour hammering out a basic outline for their project and agreeing on which research each of them will do. It’s a small project, and will only require a few more hours to put together, so Blaine invites Kurt over to his house to finish things up over the weekend.

“If you’re not already busy,” Blaine adds.

Kurt tries not to laugh. He spends his weekends doing homework or messing around online. “I’m not. Whenever you want is fine.”

“How about Saturday afternoon?”

“That works for me.”

Once they’ve gathered their things and walked out of the school in companionable silence, Kurt turns toward the parking lot, but instead of following, Blaine sits down on the concrete steps. 

“The late bus doesn’t come for another half hour or so,” Blaine explains when Kurt turns around to give him a questioning look. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

Kurt pauses, shifting his bag on his shoulder. He’s not sure if offering Blaine a ride home is a good idea, or if Blaine would even welcome it. The time spent in the library wasn’t bad, though - Blaine was friendly and funny and he didn’t treat Kurt like he’s diseased. The McKinley late bus is a nightmare no one should have to live through if it can be avoided, and Kurt’s never had the opportunity to rescue someone from its clutches before. He likes the way it feels, knowing he has something to offer. He’s already had more social interaction today than he’s had in years, and it was with someone who’s gay, and just the simple act of talking to Blaine for an hour has left him feeling a little bit giddy and reckless. 

“I could give you a ride, if you’d like,” Kurt finally offers, trying to sound as casual as possible. “It’s cold out here, and that bus is awful, I always used to hate taking it. And this way I’ll know where you live for Saturday. Not that I get lost easily, but...”

Blaine’s already standing up. “Don’t worry, you’ve convinced me,” he says, and Kurt’s smile doesn’t dim until they’ve almost reached his car and he notices Blaine pulling a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the pocket of his jeans. 

“You can’t smoke in my car. If my dad smells it in here, he’ll--”

“No smoking in the car,” Blaine says, shoving the cigarettes back into his pocket. “Got it. I’ll wait ‘til I get home.”

Kurt knows it’s a sign of how much he’s lowered his expectations of people that he’s so impressed by someone respecting him enough to agree to not smoke in his vehicle, but it doesn’t stop him from smiling.

-

It happens pretty quickly. Kurt visits Blaine’s house that weekend and Blaine catches him eyeing the stack of Vogue magazines and the Grey’s Anatomy DVDs on the shelf. They have things in common, things besides both of them being gay, and Blaine is just as excited as Kurt is about it. They had exchanged numbers the first day they worked on the project at school, but their text conversations continue long after the project has been completed.

For the first time since fifth grade, Kurt has a friend at school. 

Kurt’s been surviving on friendships formed online with fellow teenagers interested in theater or Lady Gaga, all of whom lived hundreds of miles away. Having someone to talk to everyday at school, someone who lived only a 15 minute drive away, is a privilege he never expected to have again before leaving Lima, but after a few days of hanging out with Blaine, Kurt’s not sure how he ever got by without it.

The two of them don’t share any other classes, but they start eating lunch together outside and making the walk to their Interpersonal Communication class together. Kurt’s favorite part of the day used to be going home, but now it’s these precious 45 minutes that he gets to spend with Blaine. He even sneaks down to the edge of school property with Blaine once they’ve finished eating everyday so Blaine can smoke a cigarette. Kurt never fails to remind Blaine how bad it smells, but what he’ll never admit out loud is that he’s starting to like it. He associates the smell with Blaine and now it has a calming effect on him. 

Down at the edge of the property, Kurt’s always careful to keep all of his body parts safely on school grounds so he won’t get suspended if they’re ever caught. Blaine has no such worries, always stepping out into the street deliberately a few times to get a rise out of Kurt. It’s amazing, not spending lunch alone with a book, praying that no one will bother him. 

A few blissful weeks pass before Kurt’s reminded of Blaine’s affinity for violent confrontation. One Friday after last period, he’s standing beside Blaine’s locker, chattering on about their plans to see a community theater production of Rent that weekend while Blaine grabs a book, and Dave Karofsky is suddenly there, shoving Kurt into the row of lockers.

It’s not an incredibly hard shove, not the worst Kurt has experienced by a longshot, but it’s been over a year since he’s been actively targeted so the blow catches him off guard enough to knock him to the ground. Once he collects himself and the books he’s dropped, Kurt looks up to find Blaine and Dave rolling around on the ground, shouting and trying to land punches. Kurt’s paralyzed with shock, and none of the other passersby in the hall seem interested in breaking the two of them up. It seems like it takes forever, but it’s probably only about 30 seconds before Mr. Schuester hears the scuffle from his nearby classroom and runs over to separate them. 

“You’re lucky it was Mr. Schuester,” Kurt tells Blaine later that afternoon in Kurt’s kitchen as he hands Blaine an ice pack for his swollen eye. “Any other teacher would’ve brought you guys to the principal’s office, and you’d be suspended again.”

Blaine just shrugs. “He deserved it. He knocked you down.”

“You’re the one who got a black eye, not him, so I doubt he learned a lesson,” Kurt points out. “It’s horribly unattractive, by the way.” It’s a lie, of course. Kurt has yet to see Blaine look anything short of stunning. His crush on Blaine had started soon after their friendship began. It was inevitable, with Blaine being so good-looking, kind, and affectionate. 

“What, you don’t dig the tough guy look?”

“You look much better with your face intact,” Kurt replies.

“Well, then, I guess you’ll have to show me how to cover it up.”

-

Though they’re close friends almost immediately, it takes months before Kurt starts to really understand Blaine. 

“You have a whole collection of bow ties, but you never wear any of them,” Kurt says one Saturday afternoon as he searches Blaine’s closet for the sweater he wants to borrow. 

“They were sort of my thing freshman year,” replies Blaine from his spot on the floor. “I have, like, 50 of them. You can have some, if you want.”

“I bet they’re cute on you,” Kurt says, running his fingers over an attractive green plaid bow tie. “Why’d you stop wearing them?” Blaine’s expressed an interest in fashion, but he dresses very plainly, always in jeans, a t-shirt, and the same leather jacket. It’s a look he can pull off, but it’s always perplexed Kurt, especially when Blaine has a closet full of different clothing.

“Bow ties don’t exactly invoke fear in people. The jacket works better.”

“And the smoking, and the fighting,” Kurt adds, poking his head out of the closet. “Why do you want to invoke fear in people?”

Blaine shrugs. “I don’t, really. I just don’t want people to think they can mess with me and get away with it.”

“I get that,” Kurt says, thinking of some of the riskier clothing items that he buys but will never let see the light of day. It’s the first time he realizes that they’re both carefully controlling the image they portray in order to alienate the people around them. Kurt disappears. Blaine antagonizes.

“I went to a dance with a guy freshman year, at my first high school,” says Blaine after a moment. “We got the crap kicked out of us by some upperclassmen after. That was why I left that school.”

“That’s awful, I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t get hurt too badly, and it inspired me to sign up for boxing lessons, so it wasn’t the worst thing, though the bow ties suffered.”

Kurt rolls his eyes. “Yes, the bow ties are the real victims here. You didn’t wear them at your next school?”

“My next school had a uniform.”

“You could wear one tonight,” Kurt continues after a moment. “I doubt there will be too many people at the 7pm showing of Red Riding Hood who want to mess with you.”

Blaine just laughs, but he changes into a polo shirt and bow tie before they leave.

-

Blaine first kisses Kurt on a warm Monday afternoon mid-March when they’re curled up against the headboard of Blaine’s bed watching a musical. Kurt’s ready for it, because it seems like they’ve been staring longingly at each other for a full five minutes before Blaine finally leans in, but it’s still awkward at first as Kurt tries to get used to the new sensation of lips pressing against his own, of _Blaine’s_ lips pressing against his own, but his excitement overpowers his nerves. When Blaine pulls back, looking more shy and nervous than Kurt’s ever seen him, Kurt’s emboldened. He leans forward, cupping Blaine’s chin and pulling him into another kiss, and this one’s even more intense. 

It progresses quickly from kissing to making out, and this is not the way Kurt imagined his first foray into kissing going, but he manages to ignore the distant sound of warning bells in his head as Blaine lies down fully horizontal, letting Kurt pin him to the bed. It feels too good, being on top of Blaine like this, feeling Blaine’s lips on his neck and his arms running up and down his chest. It’s only when he feels Blaine’s fingers working to remove his belt that he realizes things have gone too far.

Kurt doesn’t handle it as gracefully as he could, nearly falling on top of Blaine as he tries to climb off while gently removing Blaine’s hand from his waist. “Sorry,” he says, cringing as he finally manages to get off of Blaine, who’s starting to look upset. “That was just…”

“A mistake?” Blaine suggests, pulling himself upright. 

Kurt frowns. “Well, it was okay until you started trying to take my pants off.”

“Right. No one wants to lose their virginity to an asshole.” Blaine’s voice is cold and distant, and he’s not meeting Kurt’s eyes. 

“It’s not… I don’t want to lose my virginity 20 minutes after I got my first kiss,” Kurt exclaims. “We haven’t even gone out on a date yet.”

Blaine lifts his gaze to meet Kurt’s. “You want to go on a date? Because that doesn’t really seem like your thing.”

“Dates don’t seem like my thing?” Kurt asks, confused. He’s been dreaming of being asked out on a date for years. 

“Well, you don’t exactly seem like the handholding in public type.”

Kurt sighs. He always thought that would be exactly his type, but he also thought he’d be an adult, not living in Lima anymore. He could have never predicted Blaine crashing into his life and changing everything he thought would be true for the rest of his high school years.

“I want to be the handholding in public type,” he tells Blaine. “I don’t know how good I’ll be at it, but maybe we can work up to it?”

Blaine’s eyes widen. “You seriously want to go out with me?”

Kurt can’t help but laugh. “I spent 20 minutes making out with you, I didn’t realize that was a secret anymore.”

“I’m sorry I got, uh… overexcited,” Blaine says, rubbing at the back of his neck. Kurt wants to kiss the uncertainty right out of him. 

“It’s okay, I’m just not really in that place quite yet,” he explains. “And maybe won’t be for awhile, I don’t know.” Sex is still a scary concept to him, and it had been startling having Blaine go so far so quickly. “Have you… before?”

“Had sex? Kind of.”

Kurt’s not sure why he’s so surprised. They may have a lot in common, but Blaine still hasn’t told him everything, and he already knows Blaine went to a dance with someone. 

“I forget that not everyone is as inexperienced as me,” Kurt says, settling next to Blaine against the headboard. “Can I ask what ‘kind of’ means? Or is it too personal?”

“I just mean I didn’t do… everything,” Blaine says. “And it was just this guy at Dalton who fooled around with me for a couple of weeks.”

“You weren’t dating?”

“Definitely not. It was a huge secret. That was why I got kicked out of Dalton.”

Kurt frowns. “For sleeping with someone?”

“For getting mad when he called me a faggot in front of his friends.”

“At Dalton?” Kurt asks, shocked. “But they have a zero tolerance bullying policy, don’t they?”

“Which is why we both no longer attend Dalton.”

“You hit him?”

“In my defense, he hit me first. I said it was a little weird he would call me that, since he probably hadn’t even brushed his teeth since the last time I came in his mouth.”

“Jesus, Blaine.”

“Yeah, it didn’t go over well. On the bright side, his parents are _very_ rich and even though we both got expelled, the administration was convinced to make it seem like we left by choice.”

“How kind of them,” Kurt deadpans.

“Yeah, everyone involved was a real sweetheart.”

Kurt leans into Blaine, and they’re both quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry you lost your virginity to an asshole,” Kurt says eventually. “Would it be weird if I wanted to go back to making out?”

Blaine’s chest shakes a bit with laughter and he squeezes Kurt’s shoulder. “Not at all.”

-

It’s Blaine’s idea for them to join the glee club. 

Kurt had auditioned the year before, when Mr. Schuester took over, but he had decided it was safer not to join. Everyone in glee club was a target, even the Cheerios and football players who eventually joined, and despite Kurt’s dreams of being a performer, he couldn’t justify the risk.

“I’d have to quit the math team,” is Kurt’s only protest when Blaine brings up the idea.

“You hate the math team,” Blaine points out. “And you love singing.”

“I love singing with _you_. I don’t know how fun it’s going to be to sing with Rachel Berry. I know you miss being in the Warblers, and I think you should audition, but the math team is really a smarter choice for me.”

“An extracurricular is an extracurricular, Kurt. You’re probably going to be valedictorian, no college is gonna care that you switched out the math team for the glee club.”

Kurt raises an eyebrow. “ _Probably_ going to be valedictorian?”

“I think you were probably a shoo-in until I started distracting you all the time,” Blaine says with a grin. He is a distraction, but the best kind. It goes both ways, too - Blaine hasn’t been in trouble for months, and the riskiest behavior he’s indulged in lately is smoking at lunchtime.

Despite his protests, Kurt does regret not joining the glee club the year before. They’d been terrorized at school, but they had formed a tight-knit friendship to be envied, and they always seemed to be having so much fun. They were good, too, on their way to Nationals in New York soon. Kurt hadn’t been ready last year, but he’s starting to think he might be ready now.

Blaine and Kurt talk to Rachel before approaching Mr. Schuester. He may coach the club, but everyone knows Rachel’s the one really running the show, and they’ll need her approval if they have any hope of making the cut.

“No way,” is her immediate response when they approach Rachel to ask about an audition at her lunch table full of other glee members. “Kurt, you were too good for us last year, but now that we’re on our way to Nationals, suddenly you want in? I don’t think so, buddy. And _you_ ,” she continues, pointing a finger at Blaine, “have ‘spy’ written all over you. Don’t think I don’t know you were a Warbler!”

“Uh, Rachel?” Finn Hudson interjects from his seat next to her. “Maybe we shouldn’t scare them away, since we only have 11 members right now and Lauren keeps threatening to quit, which would make it 10…”

“Finn, this doesn’t concern you,” Rachel tells him.

“It concerns all of us, actually,” says Mercedes Jones from the other side of the table. “And I, for one, would like to perform at Nationals rather than being disqualified.” Rachel starts to protest, but Mercedes talks over her. “We have practice after school today. Just show up and tell Mr. Schue you guys want to audition. He’ll be thrilled.”

Kurt and Blaine leave the group after thanking Mercedes, heading outside to their normal lunch spot in the courtyard. Kurt’s nervous about the audition, about pleasing Rachel Berry and performing in front of crowds and reminding the school that he’s not just the Smart Kid, but the Gay Kid, too. But there’s excitement, too, more powerful than the nerves. At the beginning of the school year, he never could have anticipated any of this - having a friend, a _boyfriend_ , having the guts to go after what he wants. Kurt Hummel’s had a pretty good year.

“This glee club thing is going to be a complete disaster,” he mutters to Blaine, who reaches out and squeezes his hand. “I can’t wait.”


End file.
